The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Wireless networks are becoming increasingly heterogeneous (HetNets) and may consist of a mix of infrastructure elements and user devices capable of interacting over multiple radio access technologies (RATs). Some HetNet architectures may be characterized as a multi-tier, multi-RAT HetNet, where a tier of small cell stations, supporting multiple RATs, may be overlaid on top of a conventional macro cellular deployment to augment capacity of the HetNet. The small cells may integrate both cellular air interfaces and WiFi interfaces. Association of a user device with a cell and RAT of a HetNet may be performed by the user device which may determine downlink carrier signal strengths and signal-to-noise-ratios (SNRs) of nearby cell stations. Based upon this information the user device may determine which base station and RAT with which to associate. This type of association is limited to the information available to the individual user device and cannot account for the number and mix of other user devices on the base station and RAT.